What is the general opinion here, of individuals good at chess, poker and similar games. I would imagine you'd have to have a pretty sharp mathematical brain to be a champ.How about minesweeper!!! It's addictive but naturally not in the same league as chess or poker, but still stimulates the brain similar to sudoku.Can you brag about your poker skills on your CV, or maybe not, fearing a prospective employer might imagine you gambling all the investors' money on a hunch.

QuoteOriginally posted by: archerWhat is the general opinion here, of individuals good at chess, poker and similar games. I would imagine you'd have to have a pretty sharp mathematical brain to be a champ.How about minesweeper!!! It's addictive but naturally not in the same league as chess or poker, but still stimulates the brain similar to sudoku.Can you brag about your poker skills on your CV, or maybe not, fearing a prospective employer might imagine you gambling all the investors' money on a hunch.Ask Aaron. He even wrote a book about it.

Aaron is not alone in valuing skills in stochastic games.But you're right that some will not see it in a good way. As a first approximation, the nearer you get to front office, the more such skills are valued.The discipline of making sure you can answer questions, applies here.If you are thinking of putting poker on your CV, be prepared to be asked questions on it, and in particular how you have applied your finance and maths skills to the game.Kelly criteria, conditional probability, game theory, risk aversion, etc.Saying "I just guess I'm lucky" is the least optimal answer, followed closely by "I bluff well" This ups the prior probability that you get asked "gambling questions". The typically take the form of "you have a game where three coins are tossed, , win $1 if there are more heads than tails, lose $2 if all are heads. What would you pay to play that game 10 times ?Do not always assume that this sum is positive...Bridge is also a game that some managers value, and is seen as less associated with mad gambling and crime.Chess has recognised levels of success, and is seen as entirely wholesome, if less sexy.Sudoku suffers a little from no offical ranking usually, but be prepared to be handed one to solve.As it happens, no one in the world is as good at Sim City as me But like Minesweeper, it rarely causes people to offer me jobs.

very nice thread (perhaps should be in another forum though)I have both chess an poker in my cv....i guess it's dangerous because you could always find some HR person which confuses poker with gambling (I don't like gambling) but can also find someone who shares your interest....well, if you read Aaron book you should find more then few on tha trading side).My personal opinion is that poker is the most democratic card/table game while chess it isn't at all: you can't be a chess master without being a genius or a russian (Fisher excluded) while instead you can win WSOP twice in a row being a misfit of the society.To Dominic: I am a good simcity player but i'm a pro civilization player...old school videogames nostalgic??

QuoteOriginally posted by: CommOddityTo Dominic: I am a good simcity player but i'm a pro civilization player...old school videogames nostalgic?? Then the question would be: How much time do you spend micromanaging your cities at each turn ? I know someone who spent 1 hour at each turn on that.

QuoteOriginally posted by: CommOddityvI have both chess an poker in my cv....i guess it's dangerous because you could always find some HR person which confuses poker with gambling (I don't like gambling) but can also find someone who shares your interest....well, if you read Aaron book you should find more then few on tha trading side).How do you play poker without gambling ?

QuoteOriginally posted by: MCarreiraQuoteOriginally posted by: CommOddityTo Dominic: I am a good simcity player but i'm a pro civilization player...old school videogames nostalgic?? Then the question would be: How much time do you spend micromanaging your cities at each turn ? I know someone who spent 1 hour at each turn on that.REgarding videogames, when I was younger I used to play simfarm a lot (I had crops of orange all over the place, tons of airplanes). But, after buying everything, it gets boring.I also used to be very good at starcraft (brood war). I played it on the internet for like 5 years or more. Its an amazing strategic game (I can honestly say its the best). Does anyone here has ever played it ?

QuoteOriginally posted by: MrMartingaleQuoteOriginally posted by: CommOddityvI have both chess an poker in my cv....i guess it's dangerous because you could always find some HR person which confuses poker with gambling (I don't like gambling) but can also find someone who shares your interest....well, if you read Aaron book you should find more then few on tha trading side).How do you play poker without gambling ?If you know how to play, Poker is not gambling in the same sense as the usual concept. Gambling is entering "fair" games with constant expected payoff < 0, such as when you go to a casino to play roullete or any other game.Poker is not that since the expected payoff is varying as the game happens.

People often like to think that traders are not gamblers but the way I see it most traders gamble more than people who play poker or people that bet in sports. First, playing these games you'll learn a lot about randomness. Second, I often find the odds of sports betting much greater than the odds of some directional trading strategies played by traders!Chess is like going to a brain's gym! If you're a good player at chess then you must have great logic and strategic skills.msperlin:I've never played starcraft but I played warcraft a lot some years ago. (amazing strategy game. Blizzard's of course )

There is a certain level of people skills involved when playing poker; not only in the social sense but also in evaluating and judging characters. It takes some strength on your part to look at somebody and establish their profile, or develop an understanding of them through a set of interactions. Furthermore, you then have to test your judgements by playing accordingly, and through trial and error improve your skills. This will surely be valuable when dealing with clients, competitors and colleagues, on the sales desk or trading. There is also the mathematics involved, as Dominic states. So I would argue that if you are playing strategically, looking out to exploit weak players, establishing correct times to go in, raise or fold, and have a good understanding of what your expectations are of losing, winning etc, then you are developing skills which would be beneficial in work life. Not similar to the roulette table, where you are basically hoping to get lucky.With regards to chess, I agree that it helps to be a genius, but it is not a challenge to be good at chess when you are one. How many here think they would work for their employers if they were geniuses. The fact that you can be the average intelligent person, but through time dedicated and application you can achieve above expected ability as a chess player, says alot about how far you are able to push yourself mentally to achieve success in your job. You would not beat a grand master, but you are not trying to convey the message on your CV that you are one, since no grand master would work for the average hedge fund or even top investment bank. Surely, they would trade their own account if they interested in the field.I myself am addicted to minesweeper these days and humbly brag about clearing 100 bombs in 106 secs. It'd be interesting to know if anyone else is addicted to the game.

There is a certain level of people skills involved when playing poker; not only in the social sense but also in evaluating and judging characters. It takes some strength on your part to look at somebody and establish their profile, or develop an understanding of them through a set of interactions. Furthermore, you then have to test your judgements by playing accordingly, and through trial and error improve your skills. This will surely be valuable when dealing with clients, competitors and colleagues, on the sales desk or trading. There is also the mathematics involved, as Dominic states. So I would argue that if you are playing strategically, looking out to exploit weak players, establishing correct times to go in, raise or fold, and have a good understanding of what your expectations are of losing, winning etc, then you are developing skills which would be beneficial in work life. Not similar to the roulette table, where you are basically hoping to get lucky.With regards to chess, I agree that it helps to be a genius, but it is not a challenge to be good at chess when you are one. How many here think they would work for their employers if they were geniuses. The fact that you can be the average intelligent person, but through time dedicated and application you can achieve above expected ability as a chess player, says alot about how far you are able to push yourself mentally to achieve success in your job. You would not beat a grand master, but you are not trying to convey the message on your CV that you are one, since no grand master would work for the average hedge fund or even top investment bank. Surely, they would trade their own account if they interested in the field.I myself am addicted to minesweeper these days and humbly brag about clearing 100 bombs in 106 secs. It'd be interesting to know if anyone else is addicted to the game.

Hm, I wonder if I should put Digger on my CV Or better yet - CoreWars, that really was addictive Well, I still find asm addictive anyway

At my University I am Treasurer of the Poker Society, do you think this is something worthwhile to put on my CV(for undergraduate internship applications)? I'm worried because some people may not be impressed with the word Poker on your CV at all, another problem is, I don't like Poker very much and I'm not a very good player. I'm also treasurer of the Physics Society and the Entrepreneurs Society, so would it be wise just to forget about the Poker?

I am a pretty decent Go player. I think I would be safe putting this on my resume as I doubt the interviewer would bust out a board. At worst they would have you evaluate some life and death problems.

street, well, I did put go on my cv, but mostly because I was the club founder and acting club leader for the club in my uni dan player?